


Silent Discord

by soups



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-18
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-26 04:17:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2637764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soups/pseuds/soups
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>‘There’s no way they’d let someone with zero control like him on the mound,’ Konoha keeps telling himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silent Discord

**Author's Note:**

> Set in their second year (Akaashi in first year).

“Fukurodani, fight!”

Konoha Akinori took one deep long breath as he felt his heart rate rose, his leg muscles tensed a bit more than it did fifteen minutes ago. They usually went for 10 kilometers around the city for their practice-day runs, but spring preliminaries were coming up and the coach decided it was necessary to double the kilos. Konoha had an above average stamina, but the sudden distance raise was tough even for him. He noticed Akaashi’s breaths had shortened, and Sarukui was barely keeping up if it weren’t for Washio pushing him.

“Hey hey heeeey, we’re nearing the school, Komiyan! Race me for fried noodles after practice?”

“Add a cola to that and we have a deal!”

“You betcha!”

Well, they had idiots with endless energy as well, though.

“Where do they get their energy from,” the first-year whose face never showed more than two expressions a day (the usual deadpan face and the  _Bokuto-san, no_  face) said, catching up with Konoha’s jog. The blonde shrugged, smirking.

“They can run electricity for the entire Shibuya district for a month, I bet.” Akaashi chuckled quietly.

“I agree,” he replied, Konoha could tell the amusement though his face barely showed it. Just as that thought passed, Akaashi’s jogs suddenly sped up as if his feet were lighter, and Konoha had to put a little extra effort to keep up. A two-second pause came up before he added, “I can’t believe Bokuto-san’s going to be our captain from now on. I always thought it was going to be either Washio-san or you, Konoha-san.”

“Me?” Konoha laughed at the mention of his name. “Washio does have a captain aura, he doesn’t talk a lot but there’s just something really calming and reassuring about him. I think he’d be a reliable leader so gotta agree with you on that one. Meanwhile I’m just some guy who’s spent 99% of his time in the dugout and has only stood on the official field once, and that was only because a senior got an injury in the middle of the match.”

“I think you’d be a great captain though you have a different kind of feel than Washio-san or Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said, disagreeing. “And you’re really easy to talk to, Konoha-san. People don’t feel intimidated and can talk to you just about anything, just like I do now. That’s really important for a captain,” He paused a bit. “Besides, I don’t think your experience on the field matters that much when it comes to leading people. Ah—no, I mean, of course it does, but we’re going to have a lot of matches from here on, so you’d also earn experience from now on. You’re a first-string member, too, after all.”

Oddly enough, Konoha fell into a silence after Akaashi said that. “Being in the first string and actually playing on the field are two different things,” he murmured while looking to the ground, but then quickly said, “Yeah, but Bokuto’s a better choice anyway, he’s got a way with people, you know!”

Akaashi thought he saw a frown on Konoha’s always-smirking face, but shook it off as only his imagination.

 

* * *

 

Konoha had always been special ever since he found baseball.

Actually, it was baseball that found him. Unlike most of his friends’ fathers, his old man was more of a soccer fan, and Konoha spent half of his childhood kicking balls instead of playing catch. It wasn’t until his neighborhood’s children baseball team got short on one person that Konoha held a baseball ball for the first time. He didn’t really do anything (he was put in the left outfield and was told to catch a ball if it came his way), but experiencing it for the first time was almost...

Magical.

The pitcher was someone a year older than him, the boy was only 11 but man, that speed! Konoha couldn’t believe his eyes. He wanted to throw that kind of ball. He wanted to stand on the center of the field. He wanted to be a part of this.

Days, weeks, months, years of practice passed, he trained harder than anyone to catch up with his friends who had earlier starts than him. It paid off—he was appointed the ace of his middle school’s baseball team. They did pretty well and got into the district final, only to be beaten by previous year’s winner. It was frustrating, but at the same time, Konoha had never felt more alive.

Middle school was ending, and Konoha didn’t think twice as he chose Fukurodani as his first high school choice. He wanted to play baseball in high school too, and if he was going to do it, he’d go all out in a team that he knew had a chance to go to the nationals. He then began to secretly plan his high school life: second string in his first year, first string reserve pitcher in second year and of course, ace in his third year. With his skills and more training, he knew he could do it.

What he didn’t plan was the existence of Bokuto Koutarou.

“Bokuto Koutarou, from Fukurodani Middle School! Position, ace, of course!!”

Damn, this kid was loud, was Konoha’s first thought of the boy. Second, there was no way that kid could be ace when he was in the same team as Konoha.

The fox-faced boy took pride in his control. He didn’t really have speed—his fastballs were above average at best, and he’d been told that they lacked ‘power’. To balance it off, though, his aims were near perfect—unintended four balls were a rarity for Konoha. He had quite a few difficult breaking balls up his sleeve; that, plus his pretty good stamina that lasted all nine innings, he’d pitched a couple no hit no run and a few no run games in his both his official and unofficial baseball matches.

Bokuto was the exact opposite of him. His balls were all over the place, fastballs were pitches thrown not even 10 cm near the mitt and breaking balls were out of the question, but the boy had  _enormous_  power. Everyone who had experienced his pitches (and survived the dead balls) said that not only his balls were fast and powerful, it was like they were  _alive_.

Konoha didn’t believe any of this, not until he stood on the batter box himself.

_‘Power’s the only thing he’s got. There’s no way they’d let someone with zero control like him on the mound.’_

He kept telling himself that, trying to ignore an unsettling feeling that arose the moment Bokuto’s ball passed by his body into the fence right behind the catcher.

 

* * *

 

“It’s hard to tell you this, you know.” Konoha was passing by when he heard one of his seniors’ voice nearby. He stopped his steps. “But I really think you’d be better suited as an outfielder ‘coz you have good arms. I understand that you want to be a pitcher, and we’re only saying this because we care about you—”

“Don’t worry, Senpai!” It was Bokuto’s voice that cut the sentence. “I’m the man who’s gonna be the ace of this team, and I can’t do that by being an outfielder! So I’ll stick with being a pitcher!”

Konoha silently rooted for Bokuto from behind the shadows, while, for some reason, feeling a bit uneasy at the same time.

 

* * *

 

April came, seniors retired and graduated, and new members joined.

Akaashi Keiji was one of them. A first-year that seemingly disinterested in anything, Konoha’s first impression was questioning why he’d join a sports club when he looked more like a going-straight-home club kind of guy.

“My desired position is catcher.”

Konoha had got another member in the team to catch for him, so he didn’t really pay attention to Akaashi at first.

That was, until he formed a battery with Bokuto.

“Nice pitch, Bokuto-san, but that was a ball. Remember the training yesterday, and focus on my mitt.”

 _Bang_! There went the sound that Konoha had subconsciously grown to dislike—the sound of Bokuto’s pitch cutting through the air into Akaashi’s mitt. Before Akaashi came, whenever Bokuto’s doing pitching practice, all he heard was, “Are you even looking at the mitt?”, but lately he’d heard less and less of those yells and more of those  _bang_  sounds.

“Bokuto’s balls have more and more control lately, don’t they?” he overheard one of the managers talked.

“Yeah, since Akaashi-kun’s begun catching for him. He already has power to begin with, if he keeps this up, all that talk about being this team’s ace wouldn’t be just talk anymore!”

_‘Power’s the only thing he’s got. There’s no way they’d let someone with zero control like him on the mound.’_

If he’d learned to control his balls then… what?

 

* * *

 

Koshien. Every high-school baseball player’s dream. To stand on that field. To play on that field.

Bottom of seventh. 2-1 in their advantage. Two outs, runner on second base. Nervous batter. A direct bad hit to the pitcher’s arm. And the one called to fill in that position was...

“Bokuto, Akaashi, you’re up.”

...not Konoha.

 

* * *

 

“Good work today,” the coach said after the team finished their 20-km run. Some looked like they were near dying, some still had the energy to argue who crossed the finish line first (it was actually Komi by about 0.1 second). “As you all know, the third years have retired from the team after Koshien, and we have to fill in gaps that they have left. I know this might feel too soon, but we already have a practice match next week, so I’m gonna talk to the first string members after you all catch your breaths. Hopefully I’ll announce the full line-up before practice is over.”

Well, it was coming. The next year of his dugout life.

Konoha did not hold a personal grudge against Bokuto, or Akaashi for that matter. They were good people, great friends, excellent teammates. The only problem he had was with himself... And how weak he was, both physically and mentally.

“Konoha.” He was washing his face when the coach’s voice startled him.

“Yes?”

“I think you’ve known that I’ve made Bokuto our captain, and also,” he paused, gazing into Konoha’s eyes. The boy, subconsciously, avoided the stare. “Our ace.”

 _Yeah, I knew_ _._  “Ah, as expected, Bokuto’s really grown after Akaashi’s here, huh,” he said, the laughs that followed almost sounded real.

“That’s true.”  _Hurry up and ask me to be a reserve and get this over with._  “But you’re great at defense, you have good arms, you have a good command. You’re a well-balanced batter, you might not be as fast as Komi but your legs are pretty good, you don't have the power to push the ball outside the stadium like Washio but you’re always able to think fast when in the batter box.”

Konoha furrowed his eyebrows. The conversation wasn’t flowing like he’d imagined.

“Also, your pitches might not have a lot of power, but your ball control is at nationals’ level.”

“Wait, wait, Coach, you’re praising me too much here, are you okay?” Konoha laughed, trying to hide the sudden rush of excitement, worry, and nervousness in his system. The coach could mean two things—he was really praising him, or those sentences were going to be followed by a “but”. Instead, the coach smiled and nodded.  _What does it mean?_

“Well, you know Bokuto’s weakness, right? His, uhh, slumps.”

He almost chuckled out loud—yes, he knew it way too well. “Yes, it can be fatal if we’re in the middle of an important game. Ah, but I’m not saying he’s not fit to be our ace—”

“Don’t worry, I understand. And yes, exactly, that’s a fatal weakness on our part. We need someone in the field who’s able to minimize the chance of it happening, someone he trusts, as well as someone reliable to have his back whenever he goes into a slump.”

Konoha stood by, trying to process the coach’s words. He was so fixated on being a reserve pitcher all this time that he almost couldn’t see where this was going.

“There is no one else I can ask for this position.” The coach looked right into his eyes, and this time Konoha didn’t avoid it. “How does being a first baseman and relief pitcher sound to you?”

It almost sounded like a rhetorical question to Konoha’s ears.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ever since I read Konoha’s concern in his official profile, I’ve always had this headcanon that he holds a bit of a one-sided rivalry toward Bokuto, and then this just... sort of happened...
> 
> Also, my version of Fukurodani baseball club!! (Batting order, defense position):  
> Bokuto (#5, P); Akaashi (#2, C); Konoha (#3, 1B); Sarukui (#8, 2B); Washio (#4, 3B), Komi (#1, SS), Onaga (#6, CF)
> 
> (I had to have Sarukui-Komi combi for the center field ^q^)


End file.
